AFP Washington
Washington
Updated Saturday, March 2, 2024-16:36
War in the Middle East US prepares humanitarian airlift to Gaza
Three
US military cargo planes
airdropped food into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a senior official confirmed to AFP, as the Palestinian territory faces a growing humanitarian crisis after months of conflict.
"We carried out a combined airdrop of humanitarian assistance in Gaza,"
said an official from the US Central Command in the region (Centcom) on condition of anonymity.
Three US Air Force C-130s conducted operations to provide "aid to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict."
The planes dropped "66 packages in total of meals without pork," the official explained, adding that he still does not have a figure on the total tonnage dropped.
President
Joe Biden
announced the day before that the United States would begin airlifting
supplies to Gaza
, following the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians in an Israeli attack as they surrounded an aid convoy on Thursday.
In that incident, dozens of desperate Palestinians died while rushing to reach a convoy in northern Gaza, under military siege since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, and where the UN has warned of a humanitarian crisis and severe famine. .
Biden has pressured Israel to reduce civilian casualties and allow aid into the Gaza Strip, but at the same time has maintained military assistance for that traditional US ally.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman
John Kirby
said Friday that the United States plans to conduct multiple airdrops that would last weeks.
He described it as a "difficult military operation" that required careful planning by the Pentagon for the safety of both Gaza civilians and US military personnel.